After uploading a video featuring the Skinny Cow chocolate candy, a YouTuber left the following comment:
Typically, comments like this do not phase me but I had just come back from a visit in NYC where trainer Joe Dowdell, basically made me terrible about myself for not losing weight during the summer and it felt like someone was kicking me while I was already down.
I wanted to say, “I’m sorry I like to have a beer or two on the beach in the summer. I also enjoy frozen yogurt when it’s hot out. A trip to NYC is not complete without a cupcake or other famous bakery visit. I’m normal. These things are popular because people like them. Just because I’m a YouTube fitness partner doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them too! It’s not like I’m overweight or unhealthy. I have been within the same 10-lb weight range for over 5 years. I’ll always exercise to stay a healthy weight but I may not always eat the healthiest things! Sorry for not being perfect.”
I held back from addressing the comment until today. I shot a video while in NYC in mid September, a month after this comment was left, and just now decided to upload it. I’m trying to keep up with the comments and responding but it’s getting overwhelming. The positive feedback and support from my viewers is heart warming and inspirational.
I didn’t upload this video so people could tell me I wasn’t chunky.
I uploaded it because I want people to know how strong of an influence the media is on the public’s perception of what thin really is. By health standards, I’m healthy and I feel confident in my appearance. However, a comment like this to a girl in high school with fragile self esteem may look at a similar remark and decide to throw up her dinner. Ideals like this are not helping our nation get out of an obesity epidemic, they only add the the dangerous emotional cycle of dieting, gaining and self-hate. Women love to hate themselves. We don’t need voices from the peanut gallery to help us torment ourselves. Trying achieve something that is not realistic is a path that never ends in fulfillment. People, like the one who left the comment above, need to smacked on the side of the head and told to wake up or shut the heck up.
Have you been bullied by someone who has unfairly called you fat or chunky? If you were, upload a video telling me why you are proud to be a real and healthy individual!
